Web companies, network equipment manufacturers and ISPs from around the world have announced plans to add permanent IPv6 support in time for the launch. But given that it will take up to a few years for all Internet users to upgrade to IPv6, the current IPv4 protocol will be around for a while, too.

IPv6's most important feature is that it will extend the Web's numbering system, which is quickly running out of unique numbers to assign to users, devices and sites. By changing the the length of an address to 128 bits, up from the 32 bits in IPv4, the Internet will have exponentially greater address space.

IPv6 promises greater privacy and security measures as well which are sure to be welcome by many users. You can test for the readiness of your connectivity/ISP by going through a simple automated test at test-ipv6.com